The Wild Square and strawberry sandwiches

There's a patch of woodland just down the hill from our house in the country. The boys call it "The Wild Square". Every year we go exploring there. From the outside it looks small but once you break into it through the line of shrubs on the periphery, you realize its huge, with bits and pieces of swampy terrain, grassy spaces and trees. The Wild Square is home to wild boar and deer. We know because we see them come in and out of it. We see the patches where they have slept - but luckily, we have never met any wild animals while exploring. So today the boys packed a VERY IMPORTANT backpack (rope, sharp knives, matches, newspaper, little jars, some sourdough bread. You know. Important hiking gear.) and we went down to explore. Oh, I forgot to mention the golf clubs, for indiscriminate bush whacking.
We struggled through the bushes and oohed and aahed at anything out of the ordinary. Bugs with red spots, ant mounds, animal poo. Herbs and grasses. On emerging on the other side of The Square we found ourselves in a patch of wild strawberries, and we hopped and skipped through the fields collecting berries. Dodging big stands of nettles and thistles. Boys decided the best way to eat the strawberries was by squashing them onto the bread - instant jam, they said.
The fields at this time of the year are incredible. All the flowers and grasses and pollens and bugs. A short time in paradise, before descending again into autumn.

I was telling the boys about the tigers back in 'Nam. The Wild Square could definitely have tigers.

I wandered up the hill to see if I could find more strawberries. (The Wild Square pictured in the background) A baby deer freaked and gave up its hiding spot in the stand of thistles just in front of me. Crashed away over the grass. Not sure who jumped higher...

One Response so far.

That wild square looks amazing- the kind of place where compasses don't work and when you get inside it turns into a prairie that goes for miles and miles. Roboboy loves his colour( like me) and has no interest in ballpoint pen thus far. We have a massive work about 2 m long of an underground ant nest that uses every colour in the packet. Need to get a photo of his room- it looks like the GOMA in there! Melx

Leave a Reply

About this blog

I've been slowly going native in the "motherland" Latvia for the last 10 years, after growing up in sub-tropical Brisvegas, Australia ... analysing the differences, advantages, life styles in both places.

Many of the images on this site are by husband Jem - and most of the images on the site are of my offspring Tiss and Mik.